Have you just finished unpacking after moving house and find yourself with leftover bubble wrap?

Don’t pop it, no matter how hard it is to resist!

Bubble wrap is an extremely versatile product which can be put to many clever uses around the house and in the garden – it’s not just great for protecting your valuables in transit or relieving some stress by popping it!

Check out the ideas below for a list of creative uses for bubble wrap from Big Brown Box:

Insulate your windows. During the winter months, bubble wrap is a great way to insulate drafty windows. Applying the bubble wrap to the window couldn’t be easier either. All you need to do is cut the bubble wrap to the correct size to fit your window, spray the window with water and press the smooth side of the bubble wrap onto the glass. The bubble wrap will stick straight away and will not leave any residue on the windows when you remove it.

Protect your car windscreen. Bubble wrap also makes a great frost guard for your car windscreen. Simply put a layer of bubble wrap over the windscreen at night which will prevent frost from building up overnight so you do not need the scrape the windscreen in the morning.

Insulate your drinks. Use bubble wrap to insulate your cup holder in your car so you can keep your drinks hot or cold when out on the road.

Protect your plants in winter. If you have a lot of outdoor plants in pots you should use bubble wrap to wrap the pots, keeping the soil warm and frost-free.

Get a better night’s sleep! If you love a camping trip but can struggle to get to sleep lying on the hard ground, lay down a layer of bubble wrap before pitching your tent. This will provide an additional layer of protection from any moisture in the ground as well as acting like an air mattress under your sleeping bag for a comfier sleep.

If you like the tips above, you can purchase your bubble wrap from our range of AirCap® Bubble Wrap

Ever wondered why your cat is always attracted to cardboard boxes no matter how many toys you buy it?

This week, scientists have solved one of life’s great mysteries and revealed just why cats love sleeping in cardboard boxes so much.

If you’ve just recently moved house and have some cardboard boxes left from the move then don’t throw them away – especially not if you have a pet cat!

There are two main reasons as to why cats love sleeping in cardboard boxes (and other tight spaces) for up to 18 hours every day.

Firstly, by hiding and sleeping in cardboard packing boxes, the cats are hiding away from stress and will be more relaxed as a result. According to researcher Claudia Vinke, ‘‘hiding is a behavioural strategy of the species to cope with environmental changes and stressors’’. In the wild, these small hiding places would have provided shelter from prey but for a family cat, the cardboard boxes provide shelter from an unwanted stroke from doting owner!

As reported in 2006 by the National Research Council, the second reason cats love sleeping in cardboard boxes is simply that they are warm and cats love warmth. Heavy duty cardboard packing boxes from Big Brown Box provide an excellent warm, draught free environment for your cat as they are made from double wall corrugate for an extra layer of insulation!

So if you’ve got some spare moving boxes lying around then leave them for your cat but remember, if you find your cat sleeping in them, don’t disturb them as they will probably not want you anywhere near them!

Why not check out our top tips for moving house with pets if you’re about to undertake a house move and need some help with planning it?

Are you packing and planning a house move this winter?

Moving is stressful at any time of the year but moving house in winter comes with additional hurdles to a successful move. These hurdles mainly come in the form of wintry weather conditions which can cause problems on the pavements and roads for the removal men.

However, moving house in wintertime can also boast advantages over moving in the spring/summer. Firstly, as the winter tends to be ‘off season’ for removals, there are more moving services available. As a result, removal companies will often reduce their prices so moving in the winter can also be cheaper for you.

If you’re moving house in winter, Big Brown Box recommend you read our top tips below on how best to move with as little as stress as possible.

Check the weather forecast. If the weather forecast is for snow, hail or sub-zero temperatures we recommend that you put grit the driveway, path and steps at both your current home and your new home to prevent anyone slipping when carrying heavy moving boxes.

Make sure you have heating on in your new house. It would be beneficial if you can speak to the vendors to request that they leave the heating on low so that the new house isn’t freezing when you arrive. If there is a period of time when the house will be empty, leaving the heating on low will also prevent the pipes freezing which can cause you major problems at your new house.

Buy weatherproof packaging materials. Make sure you have purchased heavy duty protective polythene covers for your sofas, armchairs and mattresses. This will protect them against rain or snow as well as damp, dirt and dust in the removal van.

Use heavy duty moving boxes. We always recommend you purchase unused heavy duty moving boxes. Used boxes that you could pick up from the local supermarket or shop may not be as durable and may be more susceptible to collapsing if they get damp or wet.

Think about your floors. You should also consider what flooring you have in your new house. Moving in winter can mean many people traipsing through your house with wet or muddy shoes. If you have light coloured carpets or laminate floors we advise you inform your removal company of this. This allows them to put appropriate covers on the floors which will limit damage to the carpets and prevent people slipping on the laminate floors.

Pack a survival kit. No matter the time of year of your move, we always recommend packing a survival kit. However, the contents of your survival kit will vary in the winter. Make sure you have a kettle in your survival kit with plenty tea, coffee and soup. This helps warm you up in the cold weather. You should also pack extra jumpers, socks and a scarf in your survival kit. This is especially important if you have not been able to arrange to have the heating kept on in your new house.

Got spare cardboard boxes after moving house?

Use the boxes to make yourself a great homemade cardboard Halloween costume!

If you’ve just finished moving house, it’s likely that what you’re going to dress up as for Halloween probably hasn’t been at the forefront of your mind. Don’t fret, however, you’ve still got a week to go and a full weekend to come up with a great cardboard Halloween costume!

Cardboard boxes are great for homemade costumes. If you’re not the most creative person, you can make a simple box-shaped costume with a little paint. For the more creative, cardboard boxes can be the base of a more elaborate costume.

Here at Big Brown Box, we can supply with you all the cardboard boxes you need to make a killer Halloween costume, you just need to come up with the idea! To help you, we’ve found a list of 33 easy (but fun!) costumes to make using cardboard boxes.

Based in East Kilbride, just 15 minutes from Glasgow city centre, we are in the perfect location to deliver your moving and packing supplies direct to your door no matter where you are in Glasgow or the surrounding areas. We offer a next working day delivery service on all orders placed Monday-Friday before 3pm and orders over £35 receive free delivery.

If you would prefer, you can also collect you moving boxes Monday-Friday between 10am and 4pm from our East Kilbride depot.

At Big Brown Box, we have worked hard to put together a range of great value complete moving packs for both moving house and office.

The packing boxes moving kits contain a supply of quality moving boxes and packing accessories including bubble wrap, packing tapes and marker pens. We’re confident that no matter the size of your house or office, you’ll find a suitable moving kit for your needs.

Not looking for a complete moving pack?

If you’re in the Glasgow area but you’re not in the market for a complete moving kit and would prefer to order your moving boxes and packaging accessories separately we cater for you too!

We stock a range of cardboard packing boxes including heavy duty boxes, cardboard wardrobe cartons, archive boxes and television packing boxes as well as a full range of packing supplies including bubble wrap, paper packaging, packing tapes & more.

Moving to a new home can be a very scary experience for young children so it is important to comfort them as much as possible during the move.

One way to make them feel involved in the packing process and to reassure that they don’t have to leave all their toys behind is to allow the kids to pack a survival kit for the move.

What should be in the survival kit?

The difference between your survival pack and the kids one is that yours will be boring, make sure the kids’ survival kit is all about fun!

Before anything is packed you can get them to decorate the outside of the cardboard box so that their survival kit is personal to them.

Another great way to involve them in the packing process is to allow the kids to choose their top 5 items including toys, books and games as well as any comfort blankets or cuddly toys to include in the survival kit. This should ensure that your kids are able to keep themselves entertained both before and immediately after the move so you can get on with some packing/unpacking.

To ensure their survival kit box contains only fun items, normal items included in a survival kit for moving such as toiletries, clothing and snacks should be packed in a separate suitcase/bag. However, to keep the kids involved, you can ask that they look out and sort the items into the case.

Allowing your kids to pack their favourite items and giving them access to them straight away after you have moved house should ensure that the new house does become a home and the kids will settle quickly.

Are you packing boxes to go to university or college for the first time?

The summer is drawing to a close and terms are about to begin at universities and colleges across the UK. This is an exciting time for many people who are about to embark on student life for the first time. Before the real fun begins though, you will need to pack up your room at home to move to your student accommodation/flat.

As this is probably the first time you’ve moved out on your own and may not be familiar with the packing process, we have tried to make it much easier for you with our top tips below.

Packing is stressful – make a plan!
Make a list of everything you’re planning to take so you can work out roughly how many boxes and packaging you are likely to need. Order your packing boxes well in advance so you can start packing at least a week before you are due to move. Check out our complete Student Moving Kit for your boxes and packaging.

Clearout the stuff you’re not taking
You’ve probably got a lot of stuff in your room that you aren’t taking with you and you will be able to live without when you’re home for holidays. Use this as the perfect opportunity to declutter and clearout your room. Selling the stuff you don’t want anymore on websites such as eBay or Gumtree can also help you raise some much needed cash for freshers’ week!

Pack an essentials bag
Keep your everyday essentials like toiletries, phone chargers, tea bags and a mug in a separate box/bag so that you can access them easily when you get to your new accommodation. You’ll probably want to just dump the majority of your things in your room and worry about unpacking the day after so it is useful to have essentials packed separately.

Moving house is time consuming and sometimes it can feel like there aren’t enough hours in the day.

However, if you have planned properly, you can save a lot of time.

We have written a lot of information and guides on how best to pack your belongings safely prior to moving house. Today, we are going to turn your attention to the best way to unpack when you reach your new home. Reading our top tips on unpacking after a move will speed up the unpacking process, ensuring you can enjoy your new surroundings sooner.

Before the day of your move, make sure you have cleaned, dusted and hoovered every room in the house. It’s much easier to clean thoroughly when you have space and don’t have to work around moving boxes and furniture.

When packing your moving boxes, we strongly advise that you label your boxes with the destination room in your new house. This is to help you when you reach your new house. When taking the boxes off your removal van, ensure they are all placed in the correct room in your new house. This should be easy if all the boxes are labelled properly.

Do not start unpacking any boxes until all the boxes are off the van and in the right room! Once you are happy all the boxes are correctly placed, you can start unpacking.

It is recommended you unpack all the boxes in one room before moving on to the next. Therefore, it is important you have done some planning and have a strategy for the order in which you are going to tackle the rooms.

It is best to start packing the bathroom, kitchen and bedrooms before you start working on the public rooms. Generally, it is more likely that you will need the items in these rooms more urgently and frequently than the items in the public rooms. This is especially important if you are unpacking later on in the day and are not likely to finish all the unpacking in the one day. The public rooms, garage and garden items can then be unpacked the following day.

Unpacking at your new house isn’t particularly hard or difficult but it can be made a lot quicker and easier with some planning and organisation. Following the simple guide above will allow you to settle in and enjoy your new surroundings quicker than you may think is possible!

Moving into a new house or flat is a time consuming and stressful task. However, being organised and keeping on top of things can help the process greatly.

Big Brown Box recommend you develop a system to label packing boxes which will make unpacking at the other end so much easier.

The simplest and most common way to label packing boxes is with a permanent marker pen and mark the outside of the box with the destination room in your new house. It is also beneficial for you to write the contents on the box so you can locate items quickly and easily. If the box contains a number of different items and it is too much to write all the contents on the outside of the box, you can number the boxes and keep an inventory in a pad to cross reference. Just make sure you don’t lose your pad!

It’s also easier to locate the boxes if you have marked at least three sides of the box. Labelling just one or two sides will not allow you to quickly identify the contents or where the box belongs. Efficient labelling speeds your move and your unpacking time. The sooner you are able to locate your possessions, the sooner you can settle in and enjoy your new home.

At some point during your move, your packing boxes will be exposed to the elements. It is therefore very important to ensure that the ink does not smudge or run in the rain or snow (this is especially important given the British weather!). The best to protect the ink is by covering the ink with a clear tape once the ink is dry on the box.

Although you may not think it as necessary, a marker pen is an essential accessory for moving house or office.

Have you equally shared the burden of moving house with your partner?

As anyone who has planned a move will know, moving house is one of the most stressful experiences in life. But the question is, who is the most likely to suffer the stress in your house?

Research carried out by Confused.com has revealed the different tasks and roles assumed by the man and woman of the house when moving house.

Overall, the decision to move and where to move to is a joint decision for the majority of couples. However, this does actually depend on age. The research shows that as we get older, the more likely we are to consult with our partners with the younger generation (16-24 year olds) the least likely to make a joint to move house whereas 55% of couples aged 55+ will involve their partner or spouse when deciding to move house.

The results show that while men are happy to buy moving boxes and organise the removal company, they appear less happy to actually carry out the physical task of packing the boxes! Only 39% of men will take charge of packing boxes when moving house compared to 54% of women.

Men do however take the lead when it comes to dealing with the finances for the new house. 52% of men take responsibility for managing the money ahead of the move compared with just 42% of women.

However, responsibilities are more evenly split when it comes to informing current utility companies about your move and also organising the bills at the new house.

Whoever is taking responsibility for the tasks in your house, Big Brown Box has helped make the process of moving house easier with the Moving House Checklist. The moving house checklist outlines the main tasks which need to be undertaken and the people/companies you should contact and gives you the chance to sign off each task. This ensures you can share the load and the stress during your move!